Alas...the parade of drivers was not to be ours at this year's edition of the Canadian Grand Prix. Nonetheless, our club was determined to participate somehow in the festivities preceding the formula one weekend. The opportunity arose when the owner of Alexandre graciously invited us to display our autos. Peel street would be closed and Alexandre would supply compli-mentary drinks. All we had to do was showcase our automotive treasures.

About twenty cars from our club lined the downtown street, and I must say that an excellent cross-section was on hand. Germany was represented by the likes of Porsche and Mercedes. The always present Citroens gave France its say. Britain showed its colours via Aston-Martin and MGA. And the Fiats carried the Italian flag. Also present (much to my great pleasure) were a half dozen Ferraris, many with U.S. plates. The evening was mostly spent wiping finger prints off the cars, praying that nobody would scratch them, and fielding questions from doting onlookers: "How fast? How much? What is it?" In the case of my 1980 Fiat Spider 2000, the most frequent comment was "I used to have one but I sold it" or "I had one just like yours...but it died from rust!" When will people learn, cars are just like women... don't get me started!

Anyhow, the evening was just picture perfect. Peel street proved to be an excellent backdrop for our exhibition. The architecture of the surrounding buildings gave one the illusion of being either in the modern part of almost any European city, or Fifth Avenue in New York. The crowd was numerous and well-mannered for the most part. One could see Gerard puffing away his seemingly endless supply of Montecristo no. 4 cigars or one could see Michel strolling up and down Peel street with his bottomless glass of red wine. The evening also gave me a chance to acquaint myself with an old compatriot of mine, Sisto. In passing, Sisto was gracious enough to showcase his beautifully restored Fiat Topolino (which by the way happens to be my wife's pet name). We got a chance to converse in our mother tounge and exchange business cards of course.

One high point in the evening was when a crowd gathered around a red (no kidding!) Ferrari F355 Spider as its owner was getting in, and began to encourage him to gun the engine. There is a school of thought that says "it's not what it does to you but what it does to others". The owner did not dissapoint the cheering crowd. I must say that there is nothing that sounds quite like a Ferrari! The same fate awaited Eric and his Aston- Martin. But Eric chose a more modest path by starting up his car, popping up the hood and simply letting the crowd admire his beautifully restored engine.

As the evening wound down, so did the crowds and so did the cars...one by one into the night. Who knows what awaits us next year...

©VEA